The Witcher Season 3, Vol. 2 Trailer Teases the End for Henry Cavill's Geralt

Netflix has released the trailer for The Witcher Season 3, Volume 2, and it hints at what may well be the end for Henry Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia.

The second half of The Witcher’s third season is set to come out later this summer, and the newly released trailer promises nothing but excitement: from all-out war to Geralt of Rivia’s emotional last stand.

"The war brewing outside is nothing compared to what Geralt will unleash to protect his daughter," says Jaskier in the official trailer for the upcoming new episodes of The Witcher, which Netflix has uploaded to its YouTube. The action-packed trailer shows Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri all fighting for survival, both together and on their own.

The trailer opens with the abject destruction of the magic school, Aretuza, where Yennefer can be seen embracing a crying Ciri. Geralt is fighting off hordes of soldiers throughout the trailer, as he promises Yennefer and Ciri that he will protect them. Ciri is transported to a strange desert land where she must fend for herself, while the other two fight their enemies. Although the ambitious action sequences have become a mainstay for the Netflix series, the new footage implies an unprecedented sense of dread and hopelessness. This is emphasized by the final scenes of the trailer, in which Geralt’s sword shatters mid-fight, and the camera cuts to his bloody body floating in the water.

Changes in Store for Netflix's The Witcher

Hanging over its release of Season 3, Vol. 2 is the impending departure of Henry Cavill. In October 2022, Cavill announced that he would stop playing Geralt of Rivia after the third season of The Witcher. His precise reasons remain unclear, although theories about Cavill’s departure abound. He will be replaced by Liam Hemsworth in future seasons of the show, and showrunners have promised that there will be a plot-based explanation for Geralt’s change of appearance.

Based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s series of novels, The Witcher was first adapted for television in 2019. Since its release, the series has been embraced by fans, despite lukewarm reviews. Many have criticized the show's pacing, and some fans of the source material have been unhappy with choices made in the adaptation. However, Cavill's performance and his knowledge about Witcher lore, which often comes up in interviews, has been widely lauded, leaving viewers to question how his departure from the show will transform it.

The Witcher Season 3, Volume 2 is set to release on Netflix on July 27th, 2023.